The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [130]
Now, as the uniformed men and women ransacked the home, going out of their way to overturn as many objects as possible, Lydia reached the boiling point. Sullivan saw it coming, but could not react quickly enough to stop her. She threw herself upon Andez, using bony fists to pound the woman’s shoulders and back. In a flash, the others pounced on his wife. Sullivan shouted for them to stop, genuinely terrified that they would shoot Lydia. Instead, they put her in restraint cuffs.
“You can release her,” he said, trying to get in the middle. “She won’t cause any more trouble.”
“She’s caused far more than enough trouble. The Chairman gave us orders.” Andez narrowed her eyes and looked at him. “He is still not pleased with your refusal to take over the Golgen skymines, Mr. Gold.”
As they whisked Lydia away, she struggled like a tigress trying to protect her home. They didn’t even bother continuing their search, and Sullivan felt that the whole event had been staged. He realized it must have been designed to provoke Lydia so they had an excuse to arrest her.
They had done it on purpose, just as they must have been selectively targeting his other family members. This was all about the Chairman showing him what the Hansa could do to him unless he agreed to cooperate.
He waited at home for almost a day, sure that Chairman Wenceslas would contact him with an ultimatum, and this time Sullivan would have no choice but to change his mind. But he heard nothing, and so he took the initiative and went to the Hansa HQ.
The door guards wouldn’t let him inside, citing “security reasons.”
Worse, he heard rumors that another round of executions would soon be scheduled. Though he never saw any list of proposed names, he felt a heavy dread in his chest. All of his family was in custody. He needed to see the Chairman. This was more than his own life and career on the line.
The first two times he begged for an appointment, his request was politely filed and then ignored, sent into a bin of low-priority items that some functionary far down in the chain of command would eventually review.
After days of being denied a meeting, Sullivan grew increasingly frantic. Finally, he tried a different administrative chain and managed to talk his way into one of the lower halls of the Hansa HQ. Fortunately, he bumped into Deputy Chairman Cain, who came through on his way to a meeting. “Please, Deputy, I need your help.”
The pale-skinned man recognized Sullivan, and in a rush Sullivan explained what had happened. Cain looked grave. “Obviously you need to speak with the Chairman.”
“I know. I’ve tried for days.”
“Come with me.”
Sullivan stumbled along, barely able to believe his luck. Cain walked right past the moat dragons, administrators, appointment keepers, and guards. “Mr. Chairman,” he said loudly as they entered the penthouse office, “you need to hear what this man has to say.”
In the spacious room, Chairman Wenceslas looked up with a scowl, recognizing Sullivan. “In due course. I have not yet replied to his requests.”
“I’m happy to expedite matters for you, sir. This should take only a few moments to straighten out.” He gestured Sullivan inside, as if he knew the Chairman was playing some unacceptable game, then turned smartly around and left.
Not sure what to do, but determined, Sullivan stood stiffly in front of the Chairman. “My family has been taken. I don’t know why, and I don’t know where they are. I . . . I was hoping you could help me, sir.” He inhaled deeply. “Please.”
“I’m sure there must have been some reason for their trouble.”
Sullivan decided to cut to the chase. “All right, dammit. If you insist that I take over